clocklike

adjective

clock·​like ˈkläk-ˌlīk How to pronounce clocklike (audio)
: unusually regular, undeviating, and precise
does his job with clocklike efficiency

Examples of clocklike in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web As a loose approximation, aging is clocklike because there’s a progressiveness to it. Linda Marsa, Discover Magazine, 31 Aug. 2016 The woodblock pulse is sometimes taken up by clanging cowbell, slashed chords, or the ominous, clocklike ticking of bowsticks against strings. Hannah Edgar, chicagotribune.com, 1 Apr. 2022 While each change may be novel, major life transitions happen with clocklike regularity. Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic, 10 Sep. 2020 Time cells fire at successive moments but do not track time in a simple clocklike fashion. Matthew Schafer, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2020 As its inflating interior forms a new universe, its energy incrementally ticks down in clocklike fashion each time the expanding circle winds around the cylinder’s circumference and overlaps itself. Quanta Magazine, 19 Apr. 2016 The radio emissions themselves, Dr. Chatterjee said, resemble the blasts from pulsars — the spinning neutron stars that emit clocklike pulses of radiation and whose discovery in 1968 did indeed elicit speculation about little green men. Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 4 Jan. 2017 As its inflating interior forms a new universe, its energy incrementally ticks down in clocklike fashion each time the expanding circle winds around the cylinder’s circumference and overlaps itself. Natalie Wolchover, WIRED, 23 Apr. 2016

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'clocklike.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1609, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of clocklike was in 1609

Dictionary Entries Near clocklike

Cite this Entry

“Clocklike.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clocklike. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.

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